Scan here: How to use QR codes and NFC for your business.

Hollywood has a strange way of predicting things sometimes doesn’t it? Remember when Star Trek writers came up with the impossibly clever idea of talking on the phone… But imagine seeing the other person! Wild, isn’t it? What about scanning something then immediately getting information on a device about this thing you scanned or a symbol giving you hidden secrets of information? Absolutely impossible. Well, not at all actually. Today businesses can use said technology to have consumers scan a barcode with their mobile devices to access a variety of things. Let’s take a look at some things businesses can do to utilize QR scanning technology.

Snapchat is one Social media platform that makes QR scanning easy. Influencers can take advantage of this by posting their snapcode to other social media platforms. Of course, many other types of pages can utilize this. Festivals can ask attendee’s to add them as a friend to be featured on their stories.”Simply scan our snapcode listed at many areas of our festival grounds for a chance to be featured in our story!” This can encourage attendees to follow your other pages as well, or even encourage them to try other activities offered they see in your posts. This is beneficial for all.

Smart wearables is also a great way an individual can share their information with ease using Near Field communication, or NFC. New accessories such as the NFC ring as well as Xenxo -S Ring, users can share information such as business cards, social media accounts and many more simply with their rings. This not only is a cool thing that others will remember, but also saves time and effort. While not many of these are available at the moment and most rings are still on kickstarter and Indiegogo, I expect this to be the future of wearable technology. 

To conclude, I think scanning and sharing information via contactless means are the future. I believe companies are only getting started on developing and innovating new products and one day we will all rather scan than be handed a piece of paper. With many establishments already with this in place, what example of QR codes or NFC technology made you the most impressed?

Resources: 

NFC Ring. (2019). https://nfcring.com/ 

Xenxo S. Rings. (2021). https://www.xenxo.pro/ 

Trends or the future of content?

It’s 2015, you just finished supper and proceed to go on your Ipad to watch some hilarious vines. Your mom watches over your shoulder and whispers to herself “what a waste of time, there is no way that will last.” Looking back at this statement today, do you think the mother was right? Well, let’s break it down.

On face value, she absolutely was right. Vine got discontinued in 2016 by it’s parent company Twitter and never got re-introduced despite the constant asks of young content creators and content indulgers alike. Hungry for short clips, content creators moved over to the new big thing; TikTok. So will TikTok have the same fate as Vine? Is this new ultra-popular app simply a trend or is it here to stay? To properly explain this, let’s take a look at what a trend is.

By definition, a trend is “a general direction in which something is developing or changing.” So in the world of social media this can include but is not limited to: Types of content (Pictures, videos or written posts) The duration, the desired audience, and ect. Trends are not limited to a whole community either. Organizations and individuals alike can trend towards certain marketing strategies to reach different audiences and communities. A great example of this would be the focus on Covid-19 and customer safety in the past 2 years. Many businesses focused on social distancing, online ordering and curb-side pickups. While this was not permanent it still resonated with many.

Now back to Vine. Yes, Vine was a trend. But this is a rare case of a trend re-emerging years later for a (what seems like) permanent stay. So why is this important? It is important because you need to pay attention to current trends to understand the future ones. My previous example was pretty straight forward. Short videos turned into short videos. Makes sense. But what about Instagram? Would this be a creation made out of the trend of Facebook posts being mostly Photos? Maybe Twitter was the same for statuses? Understanding these trends at the time would have helped you make a better first impression on these platforms as you have a better understanding of what your communities and followers are into.

To conclude, I believe a trend is never truly temporary. While the platform may shut down, expect it to transfer over to a new source. In other words, never say “This isn’t for my age” or “This is just what the kids are into.” What you liked as a kid has probably taken over in many ways today (just look at the internet). So remember, if you can’t beat em, join em!

Danish Ansari. Republicworld. (2020) .https://www.republicworld.com/technology-news/apps/what-happened-to-vine-app-why-did-vine-die.html  

Setting up and scoring goals: Sports and social media 

Just like the game itself, sports within social media have grown massively over the last few years. From individual analysts building their personal brand to leagues focusing on social media viewership, social media platforms helped pages grow interactions and viewership. Let’s take a look at a few examples of how some sports pages grew their audience using social media.

Firstly, let’s take a look at how bloggers make their posts home runs! Twitter is a great tool for bloggers to use when promoting their content. Twitter’s character limit can be at times annoying, but 280 characters are more than enough to catch a viewer’s eye. You could use a provoking sentence from your blog as the tweet to get readers engaged and thinking. For example, if your blog talks about the Toronto Blue Jays and their chances of winning the world series, you could tweet: “The Blue Jays have a better team than the ‘98 world champs!” This eye-catching quote would definitely get some readers to click on your link to see what arguments you have to back up this bold claim.This can also be applied to “swipe ups” on Instagram! Be careful however, as you want your quoted text to be relevant to the blog you are advertising! Here is a great example:

This post is perfect in my eyes! It has humor with the “moment of silence”, It has a quote of his episode to get his audience engaged, and finally a link to his episode! Well done Mr. Shaub. Well done.

Another great example of Social media marketing in sports is how the NBA shifted their focus to social media viewership in exchange to the traditional TV media.

The National Basketball association has for some time been regarded as the most “forward-thinking” professional sports league around. From abolishing a dress code to rookie transition programs teaching them the financial and social essentials of being a professional athlete, the NBA has adapted over the years to the situations around them and provided innovative solutions to many problems. This has never been more true with the evolving world of social media. Adam Silver, the Commissioner of the NBA, has stated:

“It is completely beyond our hands, but at the same time, we can help facilitate it.” “If we provide those snacks to our fans on a free basis, they’re still going to want to eat meals — which are our games. There is no substitute for the live game experience… We believe that greater fan engagement through social media helps drive television ratings.”

So how has this been working out for them? Well, better than any other professional sports league. The NBA’s Viewership is higher than the NHL, NFL and MLB COMBINED. On top of this, In terms of TV ratings, the NBA has seen a 39% increase in Playoffs compared to 2020. I’d say their strategy is working pretty well.

With these opinions and facts presented to you, do you think the NHL or your favorite sports league should follow the NBA and allow anyone to post clips and highlights from games without needing permission? Or do you believe leagues should keep the rights to their televised events in hope to monetize the posts they put out?

Schaub, B. Below the Belt. Facebook (2021) https://www.facebook.com/175091239893259/posts/1020063485396026/ 

Marwaha. M. NBA social media has surpassed the viewership of the three other major American sports leagues combined, but how? Sidelineresources. (2021) https://sidelinesources.com/nba-news/nba-social-media-has-surpassed-the-viewership-of-the-three-other-major-american-sports-leagues-combined-but-how/ 

The GIFt to Social Media: Originality and engagement

In the beginning of social media, words were the main form of content. From statuses on Facebook and tweets on Twitter, most people used sentences to express how they felt. But with the evolution of social media, word eventually took a back seat and pictures and videos took over. From Instagram to TikTok people sign in to see forms of imagery, and less paragraphs. So how can we use this to our advantage with more classic social media platforms such as Twitter? Here’s how a few businesses took advantage.

According to Online logo Maker, Images added to posts are more than beneficial. They state:

“Using relevant images on social media allow you to gain attention, build loyalty, communicate vital information, and increase engagement. If you want to stand out, develop a visual brand identity just as carefully as you prepare your sales pitches. When you stay consistent and connect images with your marketing message, your brand will have more staying power.”

Firstly, there is a simple form generally used in comments sections, the GIF., GIFs can be used to show excitement for a new product, new content or even changes to said business or influencer. Light hearted pages can use the sugared-up kid at a sports game.  Sports pages can show the newest celebration from last night’s game and many more. As much as I would love to share more GIFs with you, I think you get it.

Of course there is also the use of a simple picture added to a post to either associate or show off what the post is communicating. If you are posting about a new deal on a product, add an awesome looking picture of said product! If you are telling your viewers of a new YouTube video you have posted and want to encourage them to go watch it, add a provoking 30 second clip to entice interest! Or maybe add the Thumbnail to the video to ease viewers to click on your video. Do you want to be funny? Why dont you create a meme to show your audience your humor! The possibilities are endless!

Source: Facebook,Alex Harvey-Dubé

Source, @HarveydubeMMA

You can even share TikToks you have made on different platforms such as Facebook. However, in my opinion pages should be aware that this may pose a negative image. If you are posting the exact same thing on all of your platforms, this may give your audience a sense that you lack originality or even care. With the million images already available or with the ease of creating your own with a smartphone, viewers expect to see original content each time.

What do you think? Do you think it is okay to post the same thing across all platforms? Or do you think facebook posts should be different than TikToks?

Giphy. Demic. (2021). https://giphy.com/gifs/jerseydemic-xTiN0CNHgoRf1Ha7CM 

Giphy. NFL. (2021). https://giphy.com/gifs/nfl-dancing-celebrate-lamar-jackson-nCQZdqwyOkYGN1XRBO 

Online logo maker. (2017)  Why Images Are So Important To Social Media. 

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